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WordStream’s Top 10 Blog Posts in May

I’m not sure why I’m always tempted to start these posts with a review of the month’s weather. I guess I have a bit of Al Roker in me, but I’ll resist the urge, and dive right to the good stuff.

The Google AdWords LiveStream! Let’s be honest, for all you PPC nerds out there, this announcement was long-anticipated. Google’s VP of AdWords Product Management, Jerry Dischler, revealed some future innovations his team is working on. We learned that, as always, Google has a lot up their sleeves to keep us on our toes in the coming months. Yes, Jerry abused the word “micro-moments” a few too many times. Twitter friends of mine were joking about making it a drinking game. I’m pretty sure we’d all end up on the floor if that were the case.

All jokes aside, let’s dive into WordStream’s top 10 posts of the month of May.

Topping the list, are you surprised? WordStream Founder Larry Kim happened to have a front-row seat at Google’s big reveal and summed up his takeaways in this post. The main theme of the event? MOBILE! As to be expected, there were mixed reviews on Google’s built up announcements. Of course, some assertive PPCers felt left down, as others were enthused. All in all I think this announcement should leave us all excited about the future of paid search. So, what’s to come? New data-attribution modeling for better reporting, an improvement in scaling and automation tools, and new mobile ad formats for specific industries (my personal specialty). Exciting stuff!

Another marketing prediction post by Larry Kim, proving that at the end of the day we all just want to be fortune tellers. Or maybe the high performance of these posts just proves that we’re smart marketers that want to plan for our futures, and stay one step ahead of our competitors. Uncover the 3 trends that Larry predicts will change the future of online advertising – these trends are pretty mind-blowing just to prepare you!

Who doesn't love communicating via emojis? They bring text messages to life, adds a certain spunk to a blog post, and now emojis are even being allowed in ppc ad copy! WordStream's data scientist, Mark Irvine, ran some tests and found that using emojis actually leads to more clicks and visilbity. Learn more about implementing these into your ads in this post written by Larry Kim.

Most of our blog readers are busy marketers! They can’t afford to spend 40+ hours in AdWords per week because they’re also responsible for social media, web dev, SEO, and the list goes on. From ad text optimization to reporting PPC is naturally time intensive. WordStream’s, Erin Sagin, reveals seven time-saving AdWords hacks that will leave you with some extra beach time this summer.

We hear this question all the time at WordStream. As you may have suspected, there’s no easy answer. In this post, WordStream’s Dan Shewan breaks down everything you need to know when it comes to how AdWords pricing works. For PPC marketers who are new or recently getting back in the game of paid search this post in an absolute must read. It includes everything from how the Google AdWords auction works to average costs per click to more advanced spend strategies like dayparting and device targeting.

Isn’t the answer obvious? Yes, of course, but if and only if you’re doing it well. The problem is that not many people are! This post, by yours truly, addresses 4 arguments that I hear often as to why Google AdWords does not work, with counterarguments of what these complainers are doing wrong. I’ve included several actionable tips of how to get back on track with your paid search efforts rather than just throwing in the towel. The goal is ROI, and this post will ensure your AdWords efforts are yielding just that. We also ran a webinar recently covering this topic so feel free to view the recording here.

For those of you who are frequently in the trenches of AdWords you probably use the Search Query Report regularly to view what search queries are making your ads appear as well as make smart optimization decisions. Well, this report has never been an intuitive one to find. You have to navigate to the “Details” button and then use the drop down to find the report. Recently WordStream’s Caleb Hutchings noticed the search report located in plain sight right in the keywords tab! Check it out below! Unfortunately, this new layout appears to still be in beta as we weren’t able to replicate it in all accounts, but for PPC people this new layout is an exciting peak into the future.

Another great post from Erin Sagin, filled with humorous remarketing faux-pas. Display remarketing can work wonders for a business when done right. When done wrong, it can do quite the opposite. Aside from the entertainment factor, this post provides some great remarketing best practices. So don’t let remarketing ruin your marriage! Use these tips to ensure you’re remarketing right.

Sometimes the best thing for marketers is to take a step back from the day-to-day grind and review their efforts. Ask where can improvements be made? What elements need more fine-tuning or revamping? It’s hard to do this on your own, but marketing graders take the bias out of the task. These 10 marketing graders, reviewed by Meg Marrs, will help you get a sense of how to improve your marketing campaigns across the board.

Another great post by Meg, with a thorough analysis of the marketing funnel comparing it to a mouth-watering ice cream cone. You had me at ice cream, Meg! This post covers all the stages of the funnel with advice on what content and offerings resonate most to people who are in various stages on the path to conversion. The ultimate goal? Get to the chocolate tip at the end of the cone or in marketing terms, turn leads into customers!

Margot Whitney

Margot is a content marketing specialist at WordStream and nutrition graduate student at Framingham State. She loves all things digital, learning about nutrition, running, traveling, and cooking.